The Not So Little Poltergeist
by rubydesires
Summary: When Beetlejuice decided he was going to go to the Living Realm for a little fun, he didn't expect to save the Princess. BJ/Lyds The Little Mermaid style! COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1

**AN: **Haha! This story has been stalking me since a month ago? It was like "I want to be written, damnit!" And I was like "Okay, hold on, let me finish these other 4!" And it was like "Fine." What is this story you ask? Beetlejuice/Lydia The Little Mermaid style! This first chapter is really just to set it up.

____________________________________________________________________

Beetlejuice was bored. Not a very good thing for someone with his personality. He had already pranked several people that day, and his idea well had run dry. It didn't matter really, because the pranks today weren't all that enjoyable.

Since he was bored, he was quickly becoming annoyed. The poltergeist needed to think of something quick before he died a second time of boredom. So he thought for a moment. What was a sure fire way to get some laughs? He grinned. Annoying Juno was always good. So what was the quickest and easiest way to do that? Going to the Living Realm. Juno was always telling the ghosts to never trust the living, and it always got her panties in a bunch when someone decided to go top side.

Beetlejuice cringed. Why did he have to use the "panties in a bunch" phrase? He now had to deal with a rather disturbing mental image. One would think he'd be more careful with his thoughts.

After several bashes to his head, the ghost looked up at the Neitherworld sky. It would be night in the Living Realm, his favorite time. Now it was simply a question of where exactly he wanted to go. There were so many choices, and since Beetlejuice was never one to actually consider the various choices, he decided he'd just let his juice take him wherever.

He juiced himself to the Living Realm and looked around. A forest? Why a forest? There wasn't anything here except trees and cutesy woodland creatures. However, there had to be a reason why he showed up here. Perhaps there was something interesting amongst the trees, or maybe it was something outside the forest. Beetlejuice looked around one more time, trying to figure out which way to walk. Again, choices. Well, he thought, since my feet are pointin' that way, I might as well go that way.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Princess Lydia stared out her window, looking towards the forest. She wanted to be there, not here, waiting to attend another boring dinner with the King, Queen, and other various nobles. They were all so boring and disgustingly . . . happy. It wasn't that Lydia didn't like happiness, she just didn't like it when it was fake. Or when it was in an annoying excess like her stepmother, Queen Delia. She honestly had no idea how her father, King Charles, could put up with that woman.

The late teenage girl walked over to her bed and flopped down on her back. Why did everything have to be so _boring_? What was life without any adventure? It wasn't any life, that's what. Lydia sighed, hoping in that one simple sound of expelled air, all her boredom would disappear.

"Will you quit actin' as if it's the end of the world, and you have _yet_ to accomplish _anythin'_?"

Lydia turned her head and looked at her servant, Emily. The older blonde was glaring at the dark haired princess with her arms crossed.

"I'm sorry, Emily, but this whole life is just so _dull_! No excitement whatsoever."

"No, you just don't wanna go have dinner with those people."

"Can you blame me?"

"Not really," the blonde said with a grin. "I certainly don't envy that particular aspect of your life. So what is it you would rather do instead?"

Lydia closed her eyes. "I want to go in the forest," she said, knowing full well there was no way she could.

"Out there be monsters, Lydibug."

The princess smiled at the use of her nickname. Although, can it really be a nickname if it's longer than her real name? Perhaps it's more of a pet name.

Her eyes flew open as her thoughts were interrupted by the sudden and drastic shift of her bed. Emily was now laying next to her on her stomach. "But, what's life without a little danger?" the blonde asked with a grin.

Lydia rolled her eyes, but grinned as well. "It would be much of a life?"

"Exactly! So I says we should go out into that forest and have ourselves a mini adventure."

"But won't that get you in trouble with my parents?"

"Pfft! The threat of 'trouble' is half the fun," she said, her jade green eyes gleaming with mischief. She then pushed herself off the bed, grabbed Lydia's hands, and pulled her up as well. "Let's get your cloak, and we'll blow this joint!"

"But, Emily, how are we going to get out?"

"You leave that to me, Lydibug," she said with a wink.

Soon both Lydia and Emily were making their way through the kitchens to the servants quarters. Emily was silent in her soft boots, simple servant's dress, and cloak. Lydia, however, made little clicking sounds in her boots, and her black dress kept making various swooshing sounds. Even her long black cloak made noise as it grazed across the floor.

There were only a few people left in the kitchens since all the other servants were busy setting the tables. Whenever one of them gave the pair a questioning look, Emily would simply put her finger to her lips. They each would smile and nod, promising not to tell.

It wasn't long before the princess and servant found themselves at the edge of the forest.

"See? I _told_ you I'd get us out," Emily said smugly.

"I never doubted you for a second!" Lydia exclaimed, quickly giving the older woman a hug. "Emily?"

"Hm?"

"What kind of monsters?"

Emily shrugged and looked into the trees. "Hmm, bad men, mostly. Rumors of creatures, but I ain't ever seen any of those."

"Oh."

"But we'll be fine as long as we don't go in too deep." Emily started walking and looked behind her once. "Come on, Lydibug, let's go!"

Lydia, grinning, followed.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Beetlejuice had been wandering around, rather aimlessly. He had run into a trio of breathers and scared the shit out of them, but other than that, it was pretty damn boring.

He thought about leaving when he suddenly heard a scream.

Normally, he wouldn't have cared, but it seemed like some action, and since he was bored out of his--

"Whoa, hold on there, don't finish that thought," he said, holding his pale blond head to make sure his mind did stay.

He heard another scream, and rushed to the sound.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Damnit, Lydia," Emily mumbled. "How the hell am I suppose to make sure you're safe if you run off?!"

Emily had been talking about . . . something, she couldn't remember now, when she turned to look behind her and noticed the princess wasn't there. Honestly, where did that girl go?

However, her question was answered when she heard a scream.

"Damnit!" she yelled as she tried to trace the sound to its source.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Actually, Lydia had paused to admire some dark purple roses. "Deadly-vu," she had whispered. When she had looked up to tell Emily, she found herself alone. "Uh-oh, this isn't good." Lydia had turned in a full circle, and could not see any signs indicating which way her friend had went. They had been going in a straight line, though. Perhaps Emily had continued that way. The princess took one last look and walked, quickly, forward.

Instead of Emily, Lydia found herself in the company of three men. One that looked like a weasel, a fat one, and a plain old creepy one. They looked at her with a feral grin, and Lydia backed up, somehow managing to put a tree up against her back.

"My, my, aren't you a pretty one," said Creepy, as he slowly walked towards her.

Lydia whimpered and slid down the trunk. "Please don't hurt me."

"There are such things a 'good hurt', sweet one."

Lydia did the only thing she could think of. She screamed, praying to whatever god was out there that Emily, or at least _someone_ good, would hear her.

The princess screamed again, louder, when Creepy grabbed her arm roughly. She was about to bite him when a huge black shadow slammed into the man's companions.

Creepy turned to look at the other two, who lay motionless on the forest floor. The shadow was now in front of him, and took the form of a large black and white stripped snake.

"Let. Her. Go," the snake hissed.

Creepy gulped, and turned his gaze back to his companions, then Lydia, and finally the snake.

"Not fast enough, buddy," the snake said before he quickly bit into the man's shoulder.

The man let go of Lydia and crumpled to the ground, holding his bleeding shoulder.

Lydia looked at the snake, total adoration in her eyes. She was about to ask his name when Emily finally found them.

"Damnnit, Lydia! Why the hell did you run off?! You should have told me!"

"I'm sorry, Emily, I got distracted by some roses." She smiled. "They were beautiful! A deep, rich, purple!"

Emily looked at the three unconscious men. "And what the hell happened here?"

Lydia turned to look for her savior, but he was no where is sight. "Um, some shadow snake thing saved me. . ."

Emily rolled her eyes and helped the girl to her feet. "Come on, let's go back to the castle."

The princess allowed the blonde to lead her away.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Beetlejuice whistled as he watched the dark haired girl leave. "Lydia, huh?"

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**AN:** Well, what do you think? Fun fact: you have no idea how many times I almost wrote (typed?) Nightshade instead of Emily. Sigh. That's going to get annoying. I don't know how soon I can have the next chapter up because I am now writing two stories at once. This one get typed right up, and the other one is all about Nightshade, and that one gets written first then typed. So yeah, a little crazy. Therefore, the updates may take a little longer.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN:** Okay, first I feel the need to defend a choice I made regarding Vince. He just fit best in that particular role. And yeah, I had to adjust him ever so slightly. But again, he fit best there. I couldn't use Juno and who the hell else could I use?

* * *

Three days after what Emily liked to call "Lydia's invisible snake incident", the two of them were in Lydia's room. Emily was talking about something, but Lydia wasn't listening. She was too busy looking out her window at the forest.

However, she squeaked when Emily snuck up behind her and clamped her hands down on the younger girl's shoulders.

"You, little one, have not heard a single word I've said." Emily said in an annoyed voice.

Lydia tilted her head back and gave her friend an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, it's just I never got to thank him." Then she glared. "Maybe if you hadn't've shown up, he wouldn't have left!"

"Lydia! He was a snake! An animal! And how the hell do you know if the snake was a dude?"

The princess twisted out of the blonde's grip and stood. "He wasn't an animal!" she yelled, extremely angry now. "He talked! Animals don't talk! Besides, he wasn't a snake when he first showed up, he was a shadow!"

"So you're telling me, a _demon_ saved you? You realize what that means, right?"

Lydia opened her mouth to argue back, but the way Emily asked her question made her stop. "No?"

"If I hadn't've shown up, he would own your soul right now! He'll probably be back for it. And you don't wanna know what a demon will do with your pretty little body."

All the blood drained from Lydia's face as her body froze in fear. No, it couldn't be. Emily had told her there were monsters and she didn't listen! Now she was going to pay for it.

After glancing at Lydia's panic stricken face, Emily started laughing hard. For about a minute, Lydia looked at the hysterical woman in complete confusion. Why was Emily laughing? This was not something to laugh about!

"Oh, Lydibug, you ahoulda seen your face! It was _priceless_!"

Lydia blinked as it slowly dawned on her. "You _lied_?!"

Emily crumpled to the ground, laughing even harder now.

"Oh, I am _not_ talking to you for the rest of the day!" Lydia yelled, turning on her heel and stomping out of her room.

* * *

Beetlejuice was currently getting a lecture from Juno. That was to only problem. Sure, it was fun to annoy her, but the lectures certainly brought down his high.

" . . . and you allowed yourself to be seen! What the hell were you thinking?!"

There was silence between them for a moment.

"What, did you actually want me to answer that?"

"I wouldn't have asked if I didn't it," she said through clenched teeth.

"I was thinking I was bored."

"And you just happened to be there to save the day?" she asked, her voice oozing sarcasm.

"Yup."

Juno didn't know how to respond to Beetlejuice's blunt answer. Finally, after rubbing her temples she said quietly, "Just get out."

"Will do!" he said brightly, jumping out of the chair and quickly leaving the woman's office. "Damn, I thought she'd never let me leave!"

Now that he could actually think to himself without any interruptions, he tried to figure out a way to see Lydia again.

He liked her. A lot. It was an odd feeling for him, since he never liked anyone but himself. And here he was, trying to think of any loopholes that would allow him to see her again, and, if he was really lucky, spend time with her. Problem was, he was a ghost and she was a breather. Sure, he could go to the Living Realm, but he couldn't stay long because it would put a drain on his juice, and he would have to come back to let it recharge. Despite wanting to see the girl, he did not want to have to jump back and forth. He scowled as a sudden thought came to him. He didn't like the idea, but there really wasn't any way around the power drain. Perhaps the self named "Prince" Vince would have something to . . . _help _him.

* * *

Not long after his little plan formed, Beetlejuice was sitting across the table from Prince Vince in the other ghost's castle.

"The only way you can be with this girl is to become a breather yourself," said Vince as he looked over his steepled fingers at the blonde ghost in the striped suit.

"I know, I already figured that out. Question is, though, can you do it?"

"I wouldn't have offered if I could not." The dark haired ghost raised his brow. "But there will be price, and I don't think you want to pay it."

Beetlejuice rolled his eyes. "Drop the melodramatic shit and tell me the deal."

"Fine. You give me your juice, and I'll make you a breather."

The blonde blinked. He wasn't expecting that. "But without my juice, how can I--"

"You'll be a breather! She's a princess, right? All they care about is money and looks! Now, I can't really judge in the looks department, but uh . . ." he glanced to the side before continuing. "I've heard storied about you. You definitely have charm, and that's half the battle."

"Heh, do I detect a bit of jealousy in that statement?"

"Do you want help or not?"

Beetlejuice grinned, and held out his hand. "You got yourself a deal, Princey boy!"

Vince grinned as he took Beetlejuice's hand. The blonde felt the chill of his ghostly power drain away, and it was replaced with the hot rush of blood. He could hear his heart pounding in his chest again after . . . he couldn't remember how long!

Vince let go of the former ghost's hand. "Well, how do you feel?"

Beetlejuice looked at his flush skin. "Hot."

"Well, you're about to get cold again. You really should have listened to the rest of the deal before accepting it."

The blonde looked up at Vince, only now noticing the smug look on his face. Uh-oh. "What are you talking about?"

"You obviously love this girl, or you wouldn't have done this. You have three days to have her love you back, or you will die. For good."

Beetlejuice's jaw dropped. Well, shit, this wasn't good. "Why the hell didn't you say this in the first place?!"

"You never asked. Goodbye, Beetlejuice."

"No!"

But it was too late. Beetlejuice looked at the trees around him.

"Fuck me."

And it started pouring.

"Fuck me _sideways_."

* * *

Lydia stood in the garden, glaring at the tree line of the forest. She was still pissed at Emily. Why was she always doing things like that? It was like everything to her was game! She never took things seriously.

She was too occupied with her internal rant to notice the sky darkening with black clouds, heavy with rain. Not that she would really mind if it rained. She loved storms, and being out in the rain. The only problem with it was when it ruined her clothes. Again, she didn't really care, but Delia was always getting on her case about it.

When the clouds dropped their water, Lydia looked up and smiled. It was like they knew what was wrong and were trying to cheer her up. Funny idea, rain clouds cheering someone up. But it worked and Lydia soon found herself relaxing as the water fell over her.

When she looked back at the forest, she gasped. Someone stumbled out of the trees. She rushed to them as they fell to the ground. When she got to them, she noticed they were wearing a black and white stripped suit, and they had wild pale blond hair. She knelt down and placed her hand on their shoulder.

"Hey, are you okay?" That was a stupid question, she told herself.

"C-c-c-c-cold. . ."

That voice! "Here," she said as she took his arm, awkwardly put it around her shoulders, and helped him up. As soon as he was standing (actually, it was more of leaning against her), Lydia wrapped her arm around his waist. "Come on, let's get you inside."

He just nodded, teeth chattering.

* * *

Beetlejuice was in front of the fire in the kitchen. He wasn't shaking as much now, just the occasional chill making him jerk.

Lydia watched him, a thousand questions running through her head, but unable to ask a single one. Finally, she decided to best way to approach this would be an introduction.

"My name's Lydia. What's yours?"

"BJ."

Silence.

"What were you doing in the forest?"

"I was." He paused. Well, fuck how the hell was he suppose to answer that? Well, babes, I'm a ghost, at least I used to be, and I gave up my powers to be with you and if I can't get you to l-l-l-l-l . . . like me very much then I'm gonna die for good. "Lost."

"Lost?"

"That's what I said, babes."

"I told you, my name is Lydia."

"Can I call you 'babes'?"

"I . . . suppose so."

More silence.

"Are you hungry, BJ?"

"Yeah, I guess I am."

Lydia shook her head at his odd answer and looked at one of the kitchen maids. The young red head nodded and went to get their strange guest some food.

* * *

**AN:** Huh, my stuff tends to average 5 pages in . . . Pages. That's right, folks, I use a Mac. It's slightly annoying because I have to export it to Doc so I can upload it. Anyway, that's chapter 2 for you! I combined elements from both the Hans Christian Anderson version and Disney version of The Little Mermaid. I wanted a little more at stake than Beetlejuice just going back to being a ghost if he fails to have Lydia fall in love with him. Thus the threat of permanent death.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: **_***Warning: this AN contains a major ass mood swing***_ :terror filled scream: OMFG!!!! I totally forgot to thank my reviewers!!!! I was so stoked about finally uploading chapter 2 that I forgot! Yeah, chapter 2 had been waiting for permission to upload since Thursday. Stuff at home was preventing it, and it was angry. So, thanks to Out-of-the-inside-out-box and dbzgtfan2004. Okay, :fangirl scream: many, many, many thanks go to Out-of-the-inside-out-box. Why? Because this chapter (started it this morning, actually) was all kinds of annoyingness and dullness. So I'm like "Dude, help me?" and she's like "I'd love to!" So yes, she made this chapter perfect. Can you tell what she wrote? Oh, and :glomps and kisses Out-of-the-inside-out-box: I LOVE YOU DUDE!!!

* * *

The king and queen were none too pleased with their new guest. Actually, it was Queen Delia who wasn't happy. King Charles didn't really care.

"Lydia, you can't just bring random people into the castle!"

"He would have died!"

"So? He's a peasant. Not much more than an animal!"

"He isn't an animal!" Lydia huffed heavily, her voice strained more so than usual. She seemed to be using this defense a lot more than she should have been; why didn't anyone understand?

While the two female royals were heavily debating the situation at hand, BJ and Emily were leaning against the door that lead into the throne room.

"So," Emily said, her jade green eyes down casted towards the overly shined tile, avoiding looking at the blonde next to her. The air was stale with thick awkwardness. "BJ, huh?"

"Yup."

"Does it stand for anything?"

"Yup."

"What?"

"Can't tell you that."

"Huh."

There were two, long breaths worth of time that passed, as Emily heard a small shift of ruffling cloth next to her.

"Lost in the forest?" Emily asked, slowly becoming stiff at how nothing was progressing. She shifted as well, to at least get some ordinary sound in the air, instead of the heavy awkwardness…

"Yup."

"You don't talk much, do you?"

"Ask me somethin' that doesn't require a yes or no answer."

She looked at him from the corner of her eye, trying to think of something. Black and white pinstripes, which were thicker than any she had seen before. She couldn't see anything else, since his face was turned away. She mentally sighed; at least it was a start. "So what's with the outfit?" There was a shift of that same outfit, from the sudden curiousness of it.

"What about it?"

"Why? Why stripes? And what the hell's up with the purple shirt?"

Beetlejuice sent her a brief glare, and then looked down at his clothes. "Well, I like it. Do I need another reason? Why do you keep your hair up?"

Emily moved her hand to her hair in its complicated braid, smoothing it out protectively. "Keeps it safe. I love my hair. Why--ACK!"

Any further conversation between them was cut off when one of the occupants of the throne room opened the same door they were leaning on. In one fatal swoop they stumbled back, tripped over each other (accidently, of course), fell back and hit the floor. Lydia, who had managed to get out of the way, was standing over the heads of two groaning blondes. She put her hands on her hips and narrowed her eyes down at them.

"Were you eavesdropping?"

"No," they answered in unison.

"Liars. Now get up."

"Yes, Miss Lydia. Right away, Miss Lydia," Emily said sarcastically, standing up. She held out her hand to help BJ up. He took it after a small hesitation and soon the two were back up, in front of the princess.

"So, babes, what's my fate?" BJ asked with a toothy grin.

Lydia looked back over her shoulder at the queen. Then she turned back to the blondes as smiled. "You're staying here! Now, I am going to give you a tour of the castle. Since it's still raining, we can't go out to the gardens, but we can do that later." Lydia linked her arm with BJ and glared at Emily. "I'm still mad at you," she told her servant coldly. Emily rolled her eyes at the mini tantrum as Lydia took Beetlejuice on an impromptu tour.

"Oh, come on, it was funny!" Emily yelled after her, waving her arms around a little and leaning forward.

"No, it wasn't!"

Beetlejuice raised an eyebrow at the girl next to him, but only got a shake of the head as a reply.

* * *

A day had already past, and the ex-ghost quickly realized if he didn't get Lydia to fall in love with him by tomorrow, his time was up. Permanently. Nope, he wasn't fucked at all.

Lydia looked over at her new friend, who was leaning back on the bench that sat in the middle of the garden. He had a deep scowl on his face, as his eyes glazed over in thought. She tilted her head slowly and mirrored his body position. "BJ?"

He openly flinched out of his thoughts as she asked him that simple question. He dropped his scowl instantly and looked at her with a raised eyebrow and a smirk. "Yeah, Lyds?"

She smiled at the use of her latest nickname, but it didn't last as she noticed behind his smirk was a seriousness. She bit her lip lightly, as she sat up slowly. "What's wrong?"

Beetlejuice didn't answer, trying to figure out an appropriate lie. His face slowly turned serious as he looked at the rose bushes thoughtfully, hoping to find some inspiration from the dark colored flowers. The deep blue flowers weren't of any help, so he just said, "Nothin', babes."

"People don't scowl over nothing."

"I told you, Lyds. It's nothin'."

Lydia decided to drop it, only because she'd get it out of him another time. She was going to ask him about something else, though.

"I guess you like stripes, huh."

"Yeah?" he asked, looking at her instantly, slightly confused. Where was she getting at with this?

Lydia shifted her body so BJ was between her and the sun, and slowly started to smile in thought. He looked a lot like that shadow!

"This may sound weird, but . . . can you turn into a snake?"

He blinked. It took him a few seconds to answer. "No." Not now, anyway.

"Oh." She lidded her eyes slowly and looked at her lap, not realizing how much she had hoped for a confirmation. She furrowed her eyes slowly, and closing her eyes, realizing what the ache in her chest was. She realized she had wished for him to be the one who saved her, but it seemed her wish would not come true.

Beetlejuice glanced around, not sure what to do. That simple sound had been so heartbroken. Did this chick have a thing for snakes, or something? He turned to her, and leaned down low enough to where they were face level. He touched her shoulder gently, and then winced when she jumped, startled to find him so close.

"Why do you assssk?" he said with a smirk, adding a hiss.

Lydia smiled at his subtle joke. "Well, a few days ago, Emily and I were in the forest. We got separated and I ran into these men. They were . . . they were going to hurt me, but this shadow thing came and attacked two of them. Then he turned into a snake and bit the one who was holding me. He saved my life, BJ, and I never got to thank him."

The ex-ghost was shocked to hear the adoration in her voice when she told her little story, along with the sadness at the end. He raised his eyebrows at her, and tilted his head to get a better look at her face. "You, uh, got a thing for this snake guy?"

"No," she denied, but her blush told a different story.

"Liar," he told her with a smirk. This got a helluva lot easier. He just had to convince her it was him.

"Fine, but don't tell anyone? If Emily found out, I'd never hear the end of it!"

"Babes, it'll be our little secret."

* * *

Beetlejuice was a wreck. Which was understandable since it was late afternoon of the third day.

"Shit, shit, shit," he said with his hands clenched deep into his hair. His feet came down heavier and heavier with every step, as he seemed to make a trench where he paced. Every attempt at convincing his Lydia had failed. Miserably. It was damn hard to convince a girl you're the Ghost with the Most when you're not a ghost at the time, and you don't have any juice.

"All they care about it money and looks my ass! Never shoulda listened to that so called _prince_. Shoulda figured this out on my own."

He stopped suddenly, dropping his rant when he heard a knock on the door. He walked over casually and opened to door.

"Emily?"

She looked up, two greens colliding, with a forced smile coming to the surface. "Princess Lydia requests the honor of your presence."

BJ raised a brow. "Why are you being so formal?" he asked suspicious. His defenses were rising, along with the unsettling feeling in his gut.

The blonde woman shook her head slightly. She was rigid, with her hands in her lap, and a down casted look. He furrowed his eyebrows slightly, and then sighed deeply, running a hand through his hair.

"Fine," he said, annoyed.

As the two made their way to the throne room, Beetlejuice looked around, trying to find the source of Emily's uneasiness. There was a certain sort of happiness that floated throughout the castle, as if they were celebrating a certain sort of victory. Hell, that didn't seem to be something that this broad would be uneasy about.

However, he was answered when they entered the throne room.

There, standing in front of the king and queen, with Lydia on his arm, was _Prince Vince_.

**______________________________________________________________________**

**AN:** :grin: Again, thank you soooo much Out-of-the-inside-out-box! You really made this perfect. Let's see . . . Oh yes! Third chapter and this isn't done yet?! That's right folks! This one's looking pretty good to being five chapters. That means the next chapter might be shorter than usual. Unless I can flesh it out. Dunno. We'll have to wait and see!


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: **Okay, I wrote this chapter while listening to Loves me Not by T.A.T.U, The Internet Is For Porn from Avenue Q (okay, that song was not a good one to listen to while writing this, haha!) and Best Friend by Toy-box. All of them are the Beetlejuice videos on YouTube. The Internet one is oh so appropriate for BJ. I suggest you go watch it. It's called Lydia's Internet Lesson. Okay, time for thank yous. Thanks to AceLions. :hug: Anything else? Oh yes, "die die" is not a typo. In regards to Music Boxes, I'm still working on the second chapter. It's long. And I realized I forgot to write about Nightshade's relationship with Vince. That means I need to insert that when I type it up. I hope I'll have it up soon.

* * *

The three royals and Vince turned to look at the blondes. Emily refused to meet their gaze, and kept her eyes on the tile floor. BJ, on the other hand, was trying to set the other ghost on fire with his glare. Unfortunately, it wasn't working.

Vince smirked at the ex-ghost, his dark eyes filled with triumph. He had finally bested the Ghost with the Most. Now, he _would _become a prince, and there was nothing anyone could do about it.

"Mother, Father," Lydia said to her parents. "We would like to be married tonight."

Beetlejuice's jaw dropped, flaming glare forgotten, and stared at the back of Lydia's head. She couldn't be serious!

"Of course, Lydia, dear," her stepmother said, practically squealing. "You two should be married at sundown! It would be so romantic!"

"Yes, my sweet Lydia," Vince told her, bringing up the princess' hand, and kissing it. "I believe your mother has a brilliant idea." He quickly glanced at Beetlejuice, his gaze arrogant.

Beetlejuice was about to walk over there and claw out said arrogant eyes when he felt a light hand on his shoulder. He whipped his head around and glared at Emily.

"Why are you holding me back," he demanded in a harsh whisper.

"Because, it will do you no good to attack him. That . . . thing has Lydia under his spell. Did you not hear the emptiness in her voice?" Emily asked, just as quietly.

He looked back at Lydia, running her words through his head. Sneering, he realized she was correct.

"Oh, that is low, even for you, Vince," he said under his breath, as Emily started to pull him away.

The servant had gotten the door open when Lydia's cold, empty voice called out, "Emily, where are you and BJ going?"

The blonde woman glance over her shoulder. "Wouldn't want us _peasants_ to ruin your happy little moment, your highness," she said with a sneer. Her face serious, she turned her head to look at BJ. "We need to talk. Let's go."

With that, they left the throne room.

* * *

Beetlejuice was slumped on the bench in the middle of the rose garden, and Emily was pacing in front of him. She was talking, but he didn't hear her, watching the sun ever so slowly sink. As soon as it disappeared under the horizon, Beetlejuice would be no more. Really hard to concentrate on anything when one is contemplating their impending doom.

Emily had stopped pacing, and talking, a few minutes ago, and just stood in front of him with her arms crossed. Finally, she rolled her eyes, and smacked him upside the head.

"Gah! What the hell, woman!" Emily's attack had almost sent him off the bench, and now he was glaring at her, rubbing the side of his head.

She smirked, satisfied with his reaction. She needed spark for this to work, and the guy didn't have any a moment before.

"You were the one is the forest, right?"

Beetlejuice looked at her, shocked. This broad hadn't seen him. He had turned invisible as soon as he heard her coming! There was no way she should have known that.

"How did you--"

"Hey, I've seen the way you look at her. I'm not _stupid_. You love her, and you're just gonna let her go? After what you've done for her? I know you know that Vince guy. Hell, it looked like you wanted to claw his spleen out, and he wanted to laugh at your misfortune! What are you, and what did you trade to be with Lydia?"

BJ chuckled softly before he answered. "I didn't know being a breather would leave me so transparent. See, Emily, I'm a ghost. Well, used to be. I traded my power so I could be alive, and be with Lydia."

"But you were here three days ago."

"Yeah, but I can't stay on this side forever. It's a drain on my power. I'd have to go back and forth. So I went to Vince, and made the trade."

"So he's a ghost, too? Then why is here? He still has his powers!"

"Did you not hear what I just said? Ghosts can come to this side, we just can't _stay_."

"Then why didn't you do that?"

"Because I wanted to stay with Lydia! But now, that ain't gonna happen 'cause the other half of the trade was I had to get her to fall in love with me by sundown tonight, or I die permanently!"

Emily was silent as she sorted through that last bit of information. "You'll die die?" she finally managed to ask.

"Yes, I'll die die," he said, slumping forward and holding his head in his hands.

Seeing him defeated like that, filled Emily with a crazy anger. She didn't know where it came from, or even why it was there in the first place. What she did know, was she didn't like seeing the other blonde like this. He loved Lydia, and she knew Lydia loved him, too. The princess just hadn't figured it out yet.

So she smacked him again.

BJ shot up off the bench, fists clenched at his side, and his face inches away from the once again smirking woman. "Quit hittin' me!"

"Quit being an idiot, and go tell her you love her."

"She won't listen to me! Vince has her under a spell!

"You do realize you have five minutes until you _die die_, right?"

Beetlejuice looked over Emily's shoulder at the sun. "Shit."

"Exactly. Ya better run, buddy."

He shot her a quick glare before he turned, and ran to the reception.

Emily grinned, her jade green eyes sparkling mischievously. He would need some help, and she had always wanted to crash a wedding.

"Damn this dress," she muttered lifting up the hem so she could run without tripping and killing herself.

* * *

The wedding was held in the throne room, and Beetlejuice burst through the doors, panting. All eyes turned to look at him.

"Hey, uh, what I miss?" BJ asked with a smirk.

Emily entered a moment later. "This is how you plan to crash a wedding and exclaim your undying love for Lydia?"

BJ turned his head to glare at her. "Mind repeating that a little louder? I don't think the people on the other side of the universe heard you."

Emily rolled her eyes. "Just go tell her!"

Before Beetlejuice could say anything back, Vince laughed. "It's too late for him, servant. I doubt he'll be able to say anything with the pain he'll experience in a few seconds."

It was if Vince's words had flipped a switch, and Beetlejuice fell to the tile floor, clutching his chest. His scream filled with absolute pain echoed throughout the entire castle. Somehow, it managed to break Lydia free of Vince's hold on her.

The princess spun around, and stared at the dying ghost. She quickly left Vince's side and ran to him.

"BJ? What's wrong?" she asked kneeling next to him. She looked up at Emily, tears suddenly falling down her face. "Emily, what's wrong with him?"

But it was Vince who answered her. "He's dying, sweet Lydia." The dark haired ghost was standing a few feet away from the trio. "I must thank you, Beetlejuice. With your powers, I'm able to stay on this side. See, once one of them gets drained, all I have to do is switch to the other one, while the drained one recharges. I never knew I could best you with a woman, though. And stealing Lydia from you . . . I simply couldn't pass that up. I wanted you to die. So now _I_ can be the _Ghost with the Most_."

Beetlejuice managed a weak sneer at Vince. "You fuckin' bastard," he panted. Dear God, the pain. He had never felt anything like this. Hell, he didn't even think this much pain was possible.

He saw Lydia's face, and he touched his hand to her cheek, wiping away a tear, but it was quickly replaced with another. "Hey, babes, why you cryin'?"

"You're dying."

"Yeah . . . . There's somethin' . . . somethin' I need to tell ya. I love you, Lydia. Have since . . . since I saved ya in the forest . . . ." Okay, he said it, but it was too late.

_I love you, Lydia. Have since I saved ya in the forest. _His words played over and over again in her head, as his hand fell from her face, limp. She knew it was him, and she didn't say anything. She knew.

"No, no, no, no. BJ? Why didn't you say anything sooner?" She lifted his head onto her lap, stroking his messy hair back. "If you had, I would have realized. But now it's too late." Her tears fell on his face as she slumped over him. "I love you, Beetlejuice," she whispered.

* * *

**AN:** Huh, this ended about a page shorter then my usual chapters. I did say it was gonna be shorter, but I didn't know it was going to be this long. Yup, ever so slightly Beauty and Beast style at the end. I needed more at stake, remember? So one more chapter. I'll try to have it done soon.


	5. Chapter 5

**AN:** Okay, there is mushyness in this chapter. Obviously. I tried to keep up the humor. This chapter also took me forever. Damn writer's block. Okay, thanks to my reviewers Starling Powers, and AceLions. Now, I present to you the final chapter of The Not So Little Poltergeist.

* * *

_I love you, Beetlejuice._

_Lydia. . ._

There was nothing. Wherever Beetlejuice was, there was absolutely nothing. It was weird, though. If there was nothing, and he knew there was nothing, wouldn't that mean he was something? In order to know what was nothing and what was something he needed to be able to compare the two. Was this what dead dead was? Just philosophical contemplation of nothing and something?

_I love you, Beetlejuice._

Damn, that had really really really hurt. Fuckin' bastard Vince. If BJ ever got out of this, he was gonna kick that guy's scrawny little ass.

_I love you, Beetlejuice._

He could hear her voice, in that vast nothingness. Words he never heard her say. Words he had wished he heard, but it was too late. . .

Beetlejuice became aware of something soft under his head, and splashes of hot on his face. That wasn't supposed to be in nothing. He was pretty damn sure he wasn't supposed to be able to feel in nothing, just think. You needed a body to feel.

Speaking of feeling, he quickly realized his lungs were screaming for air. But why? He was dead dead! He didn't need air! Unless . . .

Beetlejuice's eyes shot open as he gasped for breath. There was Lydia, leaning over him. He couldn't see anyone else.

"Babes?"

* * *

"I love you, Beetlejuice."

Lydia didn't know why she said it. It was too late, after all. But she had to tell him. Even if he never got to hear her say it.

Her tears were falling unchecked down her face, and splashing against his still face. She didn't even notice the arrival of the older female ghost until the woman placed her hand on the girl's shoulder.

Lydia looked up at the woman, hot tears still running silently down her face.

"He got lucky, kid," the ghost woman said.

"I . . . I don't understand."

"Look, you love him, right? You just didn't realize it, but it was still there. Sure, you waited till the absolute last second to tell him that, but it still managed to work."

"But he's gone."

"No, he isn't. Beetlejuice is . . . between existences, right now. It's complicated, and I don't have time to try to explain it to you. I can pull him back, restore his juice, and his heart will keep beating as long as yours is. But that's only if you want to spend the rest of your life with him."

Lydia looked back down at Beetlejuice, his head still in her lap.

"No," she said quietly.

"What?"

"I don't want to spend the rest of my life with him. I want to spend the rest of eternity with him. I don't understand why, but I love him more than anything."

"Good answer."

Suddenly, Beetlejuice's eyes shot open and he gasped for breath. Oh so green eyes met dark brown.

"Babes?"

Lydia looked up at the woman. "Thank you," she said, smiling.

Beetlejuice flicked his gaze over to see just who the hell his babes was thanking. Oh, shit. "Juno? The hell you doin' here?"

Juno crossed her arms, and glared at the blond male who seemed pretty damn comfortable in his place on the floor. "That's the thanks I get for bringing you back and restoring your juice?" His face lit up, but she turned to look at Vince before he could say anything else. "And you, Mister, are in huge trouble."

Vince paled past his ghostly pallor, this wasn't going to go down well.

"Do you have any idea how much paperwork you've caused me?! And you, too, Beetlejuice," she yelled when the blonde snickered. "Just what did you think this was going to accomplish, Vince?"

"I'll tell ya what he thought this was going to accomplish," Emily interrupted. "He thought he could come between a girl and her knight. That's 'knight' with a kay, by the way. And he wanted power. So he took advantage of the situation, taking BJ's . . . juice, and using his power to worm his way into the royal family. Argal, he would have physical power, and . . . societal power? Anyway, that's what he wanted. Ain't it Princy-boy?"

Vince could feel this Realm draining the rest of his power. All he wanted to do was run. Run from his failure, but he couldn't. _His_ power hadn't had time to recharge, and what he had managed to get, was leaving fast. He wanted to run--oh how he wanted to, but he simply couldn't.

Juno took advantage of his weakened state, and grabbed him by the front of his shirt, balling the fabric in her bony fist. She held him tight, and glared down at the princess and her love.

"Get up," she growled.

Beetlejuice knew that tone of voice _very _well, and he scrambled up, pulling Lydia with him. He got a good look at the throne room and their audience. Well, it would have been an audience if everyone wasn't frozen like statues.

"Before you ask, Beetle, yes I did. The last thing we need from this fiasco is the Living knowing about the Dead. As soon as I leave, they'll be unfrozen and they won't remember anything about _Prince Vince_. And I want you, Emily, to make sure it stays that way, get it?"

"Got it," Emily answered with a nod.

"Good." Then she and Vince were gone.

"Lydia!"

The princess and the two blondes turned to look at the Queen.

"Yes, mother?" Lydia asked hesitantly.

"You can't get married over _there_!"

She was still getting married? But didn't Juno said they wouldn't remember?

Beetlejuice grinned, seeming to read his Lyds' thoughts. "Juno said they wouldn't remember _him_," he whispered. He paused for a second before continuing. "Do you want to marry me?"

"Of course she does!" Emily said, with her own grin, and pushed them towards the priest. "You don't honestly think we didn't go through all this trouble for you two crazy kids to not get hitched, do you?"

Lydia laughed softly at her friend's antics. "Oh, Emily, what would I do without you?"

"Well, Lydibug, you'd be married to a guy you didn't love."

The princess blushed as her gaze returned to Beetlejuice. He was smirking at her, his green eyes glittering with a cocky mischief.

Sure, he already knew this, but she wanted him to hear it. "I love you, Beetlejuice."

"And I love you, Lydia," he said, pulling out a black gold ring with a blood red ruby. He knew it was going to come in handy, someday.

* * *

**AN:** And they all lived happily ever after! I would like to give a very special thanks to my very dear friend Out-of-the-inside-out-box. She knows why, but for those of you who don't, she has helped me on many occasions with this story. I'm pretty damn sure if it wasn't for her, I would have never written this. So . . . dude, I need to come up with a nickname for you, since I'm not gonna use your real name. Anyway, I love you, dude. And also a very special thanks to all my readers. I can't say this enough, so I'll never stop saying it. Thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you. You all mean so much to me, you have no idea. I love all of you!


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